1. Kendrick Lamar Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Kendrick Lamar raised the bar in hip-hop during 2012. With GKMC, Kendrick Lamar challenged himself and his peers to think outside the box when creating music. He didn’t make a slew of songs and hire big name rappers to join him. Kendrick kept the features to a minimum and created something theatrical. The concept album could easily be adapted into a screenplay with John Singleton as the director.
Overall, Kendrick released his generation’s version of Illmatic. Don’t be surprised if more rappers follow suit with a concept album of their own in 2013.
